Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble... well, they never said game reviewing would be easy! Hah-ha, The Pumpkin Strikes Back. You loved him in Cauldron; now see him get his own back in the mega thrill powered sequel.
    The gist of what he's after is this - he must neutralise the Wicked Witch Queen by nicking a lock of her hair and, whilst holding the Book Of Spells, drop it into the steaming cauldron deep in the dungeons. To you this may sound like a snip, but to a bouncing pumpkin it ain't that easy.
    To assist you on your quest there are six magic objects to collect - the Goblet, Axe, Shield, Crown, Scissors and of course the Book of Spells. You can axe your doors down (just get yer axe together man, tee hee), shield yourself from walking skeletons, crown the Witch's killer magic, and finally snip a lock of her hair with the scissors.
    The graphics, especially the pumpkin himself, are lovely. You get so wound up in his efforts to bounce higher you find yourself bouncing in your seat trying to make him go just that millimeter higher. (So that's what you were doing! Ed.) The Gargoyles on the side of the Castle are brilliant. I won't spoil the fun of it for you by telling you what happens, just go up there and see.
    This is truly a delightful game, with an original slant on the traditional platformery, and although the sound and the other characters were good, I must admit it was the bouncing pumpkin that really got to me in the end. It's a well programmed, nicely presented, value for money and very, very addictive game. If it doesn't rate very highly in the charts very soon, I'll turn into a pumpkin myself!

Ratings given by other magazines

9/10      9/10    Crash Review ---

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